LR Unit (Section A)

Land registry based on the real folio principle.

Some land registration systems consider any immovable asset, regardless its nature or situation, a subject matter of registration. Others restrict the concept only to those specified by law, or even create legal fiction of immovable assets with regard to the registration in the land registry.

1. Is there any specific provision in your law that regulates what can create a new land registry file (a new folio)? Could you please state that provision? What is the basic unit in the land registry? What can open a folio? Only Immovable assets by nature, or also immovable assets by legal fiction (by disposition of law)?

In general the most important law dealing with land registration is The Code of Real Estate (540/1995), where numerus claususprinciple is applied. The Government Decree on the Title and Mortgage Register (960/1996) is also an important statute in this field of law.

The basic unit in the land registry is a specific place of land, which has been entered as an independent real estate into the Cadaster (Real Estate Register) and which has been given a real estate registration number of its own.

Unsepareted parcels of an independent real estate, when they belong to someone else than the owner of the real estate, form also an LR unit according to the Finnish law. A lease or other usufruct over the real estate of another or over and unseparated parcel of a real estate form also an LR unit in Finland, provided that:

1) the lease or usufruct has been entered into the LR as so called special rights (encumbrances of a real estate or of an unseparated parcel of a real estate) and that 2) the conditions of the lease contract of the conditions of the contract of usufruct fulfill certain criteria.

– Always a piece of land? Yes, besides the exceptions mentioned below

– A cadaster parcel: yes, except when a plot of land from an existing cadaster parcel is sold. At the time of transaction the plot of course is not yet registered in the register
– A plot of land: it shall be made to match by the surveying authorities (National Land Survey)
– An apartment, a flat: no
– Business, commercial or industrial premises: yes, in some cases that business equipment mentioned in the Code
– A house: not separately
– A garage: not separately
– A property right: yes, those mentioned in the Code
– A legal institution: not in the Land Information System
– Special properties: water, public concessions, pipelines, infrastructures public or private…): yes, those mentioned in the law

2. Could an immovable asset, being part of a bigger immovable asset already registered, be separated in the land registry by opening a new file (a new folio)?

Yes, for example a plot of land as described above.

How are these situations organized: is there any link or connection between different real folios?

–  A piece of land which had been segmented from a bigger one: yes, you may see the history of land surveying procedures from the excerpt
–  A house built on a registered plot or parcel: not in the Land Register, but in another register (see below)
– An apartment in the previous registered house, following a condominium situation: the Finnish legal system recognizes two different institutions which broadly follow the description of condominium

Firstly, a real estate can be jointly owned (Finnish: yhteisomistus / Swedish: samägande) by two or more persons and said persons may enter into an agreement on the possession of the real estate.

By such an agreement a real estate may be divided into areas which are exclusively possessed by the joint owners and areas which are possessed jointly by the joint owners. Registration of such agreements is regulated by the Finnish Code of Real Estate. (http://www.finlex.fi/en/laki/kaannokset/1995/en19950540.pdf) especially chapter 14 section 3 of said code. However, there is no law governing the material issues with regard to said agreements.

Secondly, the Finnish Limited Liability Housing Companies Act (1599/2009) provides an arrangement by which a limited liability company owns and possesses at least one building or part thereof in which at least half of the combined floor area of the apartment or apartments is reserved in the Articles of Association for use as residential apartments possessed by the shareholders.

Usually the limited liability housing company also owns and possesses the real estate on which the building or buildings are located but the possession may also be based on leasehold. On its own or combined with other shares, each share of the limited liability housing company provides the right of possession to the apartment or other part of the building or real estate as provided in the Articles of Association.

3. What is the legal criterion that defines the object of land registration (Please select all possibilities, applicable to your system):

– The nature of the asset only ownership to a real estate and contractual rights to use a real estate owned by another person are registered in the Finnish Land Register. Hence, neither apartments nor ownership to apartments in a building or buildings owned by a limited liability housing company are registered in the Land Register. So some kind of connection to a piece of land is crucial.
– The object of the contracts
– Legal relationships, for example in the case of joint ownership
– Identification capability

Is there a connection between the object of the legal traffic and the land registry entity? If so, could you please describe this connection?

Yes, it is possible According to the Real Estate Register Act are public areas (as roads) registered into the register (Cadaster), which is part of the Land Information System.

Identification of the LR entity: Is each land registry entity identified by a single identification number?

Yes.

Is it created, maintained and written off by the Land registry organization? 

Yes.

Is it a unique nationwide number?

Yes.

If a Land Register identification number is applicable to your situation: could you please describe the way this LR ID number is structured. Could you please share a (specimen) identification number?

The structure LR ID number is based on the Real Estate Register (Cadaster) According to the Real Estate Register Act (395/1985) and to the Government degree (970/1996). The format of the number includes for parts of which the first part refers the number of municipality. Each real estate unit within the municipality has a number of its own.

Which other information is needed for a easy and complete identification of the entity? (please select all possibilities, applicable to your system):

– Registration data
– Municipality
– Tax office
– County
– Other, namely: As described above is the identification in LR based on the same ID which is given for a real estate unit in the cadaster and which together comprises the Nationwide Land Information System maintained by National Land Survey of Finland. Because of the mentioned fact no other identification for easy identification is needed.